Russian parliament approves Putin's constitutional reform in the first round

In a lightning-fast vote, with less than two hours of debate, the Russian Parliament approved on Thursday, 23, in the first round the constitutional amendments presented by the president, Vladimir Putin , which will give more power to the parliamentarians. The texts were supported by 432 of the xxx deputies.

"We show a powerful unity", celebrated the President of Parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin. The project will be submitted to two more voting rounds. The second will take place on February 11. There is no prospect of disapproval at these stages.

The proposed amendments were put forward by Putin as an "important measure for the future development of Russia" . The text proposes to transfer prerogatives from the Presidency to Parliament, such as the choice of the prime minister and the cabinet by the prime minister. Strictly speaking, it should strengthen the prime minister's powers, the position that the current Russian president must assume at the end of his current term.

There are additional changes. Judges, legislators and politicians at the federal level may not have foreign nationality or residence permit in another country. The text also strengthens certain powers of the president, who may, for example, refuse to sign a law adopted by two-thirds of deputies.

After going through the three rounds of voting, the text must be approved by the Federation Council, the Upper House of Parliament, and ratified by Putin. But the Kremlin promises that a debate with the population will be organized, although it does not detail what kind of consultation will be made.

Putin's constitutional amendments to strengthen parliament caused the resignation of former Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev to the entire cabinet of ministers last week. The president appointed Mikail Mishutin to the post of Medvedev and a new cabinet . Mishutin is a tax bureaucrat with no political experience.